Babes in the Woods by Caitlin Flanagan
I thought the style of this commentary was ingenious. Catilin writes in such a way that the piece is almost like a mystery story. She presents information with an obvious opinion and then ends with a twist. The ending makes the reader question if the subject of the story has switched over to the "dark side" or if the author is just making a point.
The subject of her article is the safety of public networking sites for teenagers. She backs up her research with carefully chosen research and personalizes it by putting herself in the story.
She writes descriptively using such unique phrases as " the only fly in the ointment" and "wearing their retainers, topped with multivitamins, radiating the good care and safekeeping that is their lot in life in America.." p.379. I get the impression she calculates and carefully considers the strength and value of each word before she writes it. This is indeed the mark of a good writer.
I also think the way she uses argument upon argument and fact upon fact makes the reader trust her point of view. Then, she offers a ingenious twist and concludes with the reader completely questioning whether the subject is holding to the argument presented or if she has switched sides and has now become the predator rather than the one being preyed upon. She uses this surprise ending to further strengthen her point.
We have all read many articles questioning the safety of social networking sites. This isn't breaking news to any of us. However, Catilin, brilliant writer that she is, takes this information and presents it in such a way, by her skillful writing, so that it becomes more of a real life story.
All in all, this piece is different from other commentaries we have read this week by they way it tells a story at the same time supporting an opinion or view and relating relevant facts and information.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.JPG)
I agree i with your analysis of Flanagan's "Babes in the Woods". I trusted her writing and found it to be a different and interesting approach to something we regularly hear about.
ReplyDeleteI really like your review of the article - yeah those passages are really descriptive! And articles with a twist are like winking at your reader - are you planning on using something like that in your commentary?
ReplyDeleteI agree that we hear about the safety of social networking all the time. It's kind of overkill at times. I think that Flanagan did a good job at making this article interesting to read yet she gives a reliable point of view.
ReplyDelete